Can a good cause make up for bad UX?
Guest Contribution
MoByCy is a start up that has sprinkled Delhi-NCR liberally with bicycles. These are bright green in colour, easy to spot, GPS enabled, and connected to an app that lets you find the bike closest to you, unlock it by scanning the code on the bike, and lock it back manually to end your ride. Once locked, you simply walk away, parking it in a way that it can spotted by the next rider. You pay according to the time ridden, and through PayTM linked to your app.
I rode it, and it worked like a charm. But the trouble was before I rode it.
The app wasn’t much help in setting up. It said one screen that I needed to add my Aadhaar number, but in the next it was cool with me uploading my PAN. Once I had uploaded it, it didn’t say if it was verified and if I could start riding. Then it asked me for a User ID but never said what it was till I wrote to their support centre. It was the number on the PAN. On another query, the support centre wasn’t much help, once returning a message that said: Hi, this is the response of your feedback feedback_no.:FDB_1145. And that’s where it ended. No attachments, no mail trail, no link.
And there were a few other issues I had to overcome before I got my first ride. The first ride came free, but even when they charge for it, it is nothing compared to any other last mile connectivity modes on offer. Even after you add the one-time nominal security deposit.
The reason I share these irritants is not to say that the app should not be used till these are fixed. But to say that it should be used despite all its flaws. Because a great UI/UX is a delight, but the way this start up is trying to solve a huge problem, is an even bigger one.
They have created a great end-to-end cycle (pun unintended, and unavoidable) of shared resources that are environment-friendly, cool, healthy and safe. And for this their idea deserves to be picked, used, promoted and pushed.
And that’s the lesson my first MoByCy ride gave me. Before bothering about the perfect app or the website, if start ups can align with a cause or a philosophy that users feel for, they will overcome all glitches to use it. Like I did.
There is always time for UI/ UX to get tweaked and fixed. But the air around our cities can’t wait forever.
(I found a few other services like Mybyk similar to MoByCy in other cities)
Powered by WPeMatico
